Norcon, Inc. v. Kotowski

971 P.2d 158 (1999)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Mary Kotowski (P) was working on the Exxon Valdez oil spill. She worked for a company called Norcon. At first, her employment was without incident. But then she was transferred to the supervision of another foreman, Mike Posehn. P was transferred to work on another barge. Immediately she was sexually harassed by Mike in that he came up and kissed her and fondled her buttocks. Later that day, P was invited to Mike's room and offered a drink, which was in violation of company nonalcoholic rules. When the event was over, P reported the behavior to Elmo Savell, the Exxon executive in charge. Savell gave P a tape recorder and told her to play along with Mike and also gave a note to her that she was assisting in gathering information on company violations and that she would have amnesty from prosecution and from being fired. P went to the party in Mike's room that next day and was offered alcohol and she was again sexually harassed. An Exxon executive who had also been at the party asked P to sign a statement that she had been insubordinate but was told by a steward that her job would not be terminated. P signed the statement, and the steward took it to the Exxon executive, and he passed it around the table at lunch and laughing. P was later questioned by Norcon, Veco and Purcell personnel. Mike was interviewed as well. Both P and Mike were fired. The jury gave the verdict to P for lost wages ($8,494), emotional distress ($1,850) and $3.8 million in punitives (later reduced to $500,000). D appealed; the admissibility of business memos with totem pole hearsay on them was wrong.